Tue, Dec 08, 2009
They Contend Air Traffic Control Rules Were Not Followed During
Flight
The two pilots who flew a Northwest
Airlines jet about 150 miles beyond its intended destination say
ATC bears at least part of the responsibility for the incident. The
pilot's responses to an Administrative Law Judge were made on
November 24th, but just made public Monday.
In their statement, Captain Timothy B. Cheney, and First Officer
Richard I. Cole, said "The air traffic controller(s) did not comply
with the requirements of the air traffic control manual and other
relevant orders, rules, procedures, policies and practices with
respect to Northwest Flight 188, nor coordinate effectively with
Northwest dispatch, and such failure was a causal or contributing
factor in the incident."
CNN reports the pilots, who are
appealing the revocation of their pilot certificates, told the NTSB
they were using their laptops in violation of company policy and
"lost track of time." They became aware of the situation when a
flight attendant asked about the arrival time.
Cheney has logged more than 20,000 hours of flying time, and
Cole has more than 11,000. The pilots said during the investigation
that there was "a concentrated period of discussion where they did
not monitor the airplane or calls" from ATC. Both said they heard
conversation on the radio, the report in the investigation
said.
As to the role of ATC in the matter, Laura J. Brown, FAA deputy
assistant administrator for public affairs, said "Since this is the
subject of an ongoing legal process, we can't comment."
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